Private tenants who pay their rent on time should see their credit rating boosted in order to make it easier for them to gain a foot on the housing ladder.That is the advice being given following a survey of almost 3,000 buy-to-let landlords carried out by the Residential Landlords Association (RLA), which found that 61% of landlords would support such a move. Credit rating agencies do not currently routinely include rental payment history when calculating credit scores. This means a tenant can find it difficult to access a mortgage, even if they have a long history of rent being paid in full and on time.The RLA believes that including rental payment history in this way will also allow landlords to make a more accurate assessment of a prospective tenant’s suitability, and are subsequently calling on the government to work with the industry and recommend that it is included as a standard feature when calculating credit scores.The RLA’s chairman, Alan Ward, commented: “With many tenants wanting to buy a house of their own, it is absurd rent payment is not routinely included when undertaking credit checks for mortgage applications. Moving to such a scheme would help not just tenants, but also landlords by giving them a clearer sense of whether a prospective tenant has historically paid their rent in full and on time.” Source: Landlord Today